LONGMONT -- A single osprey, possibly one half of a pair that's been nesting at the Boulder County Fairgrounds for the past decade, arrived this week to begin poking around the nest atop a platform at the eastern edge of Cattail Pond.

The adult osprey that showed up Tuesday is likely the pair's male half -- and if so, it probably will be followed within days by its female mating partner -- according to Susan Spaulding, a senior wildlife biologist in the Boulder County Parks and Open Space Department.

Boulder County residents can watch the osprey nest and its occupants online over a webcam the county installed last year near the pole-mounted nest platform.

"We don't know absolutely" that the osprey couple that's been returning to the fairgrounds nest each of the past several years is exactly the same pair that's been showing up in the area since the spring of 2003, Spaulding said.

But the fairgrounds has attracted a pair of the raptors every spring during the past decade. A pair began nesting on a light pole there, and county wildlife biologists moved the nest to its current location in 2009 for the birds' safety.

An osprey catches a fish out of Cattail Pond at the Boulder County Fairgrounds on Tuesday.
(
Greg Lindstrom
)

Boulder County officials said osprey migrate south every year to Central or South America, with the male, the female and their offspring going different ways and wintering separately. The adult male and female typically return to the same nesting site each year, showing up in mid-March to around the first part of April to mate and lay eggs within the first two weeks after both adults arrive.

The fairgrounds osprey camera proved to be very popular but was down for several months last year, due to what turned out to be a manufacturer's defect in the system originally installed in 2012, Spaulding said. The camera has been repaired and was reinstalled in January, with the county setting it farther from the nest to get a wider shot of the birds.

An osprey retrieves sticks or its nest near Cattail Pond at the Boulder County Fairgrounds on Tuesday.
(
Greg Lindstrom
)

Osprey pairs have also been returning to other nesting sites on county open space and on private properties covered by county conservation easements, Spaulding said.

They're among several species arriving in Boulder County with the onset of spring, according to area bird watching enthusiasts.

"Right now, people are reporting an awful lot of mountain bluebirds coming back," said Nathan Pieplow, editor of the Colorado Field Ornithologists' "Colorado Birds" journal.

Pieplow said he saw some flying over his Gunbarrel home earlier this week. He said the mountain bluebirds will be spending the hot summer months in the mountains but for now can be seen on the plains.

Also in the county's prairie areas can be found Say's Phoebe, a member of the flycatcher bird family, Pieplow said, including a pair that usually nests near the visitors' parking lot at Boulder County's Rabbit Mountain Open Space.

Petrea Mah, vice president of the Boulder County Audubon Society, said western bluebirds, burrowing owls, turkey vultures and broad-tailed hummingbirds are starting to make their presence known, as well.

Pieplow said that Union Reservoir east of Longmont is typically a good place for area residents to watch for varieties of ducks, geese, gulls and eagles as the ice melts and the waters warm.

Pieplow and Mah said a number of local wildlife organizations, such as the Boulder County Audubon Society, the Boulder Bird Club and the Boulder County Nature Association, have information online about what people can expect to see when it comes to watching for birds frequenting the county's mountains and plains areas, as well as information about bird-watching field trips those organizations are sponsoring.

MacIntyre feels Colorado is capable of making run at bowl gameCU BUFFS FALL CAMPWhen: 29 practices beginning Wednesday morning 8:30-11 a.m. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday practices are open to the media and public next week. Full Story

It didn't take long for Denver music observers to notice Plume Varia. Husband and wife Shon and Cherie Cobbs formed the band only two years ago, but after about a year they started finding themselves on best-of lists and playing the scene's top venues. Full Story